Sprinkler Systems
by katierosefun
Summary: "Sweat was dripping down her face. Her muscles screamed with fatigue and soreness. Her back was being weighed down by a pack of rocks and other things that only the Force might know. Her legs were trembling; her throat was parched and she was gasping for breath. And in all of her days, Ahsoka Tano never wanted to kill her master more than she wanted to right. At. This. Moment."


It's summer! And I don't have any classes! And I just came back from Boston, too - it was actually pretty chilly up there, but I visited Walden Pond and Kimball Farm and all of the other great, historical sites.

This story was somewhat inspired by something my youngest brother and I did - we were playing basketball on our driveway and it was extremely hot. (We could actually feel the blacktop burning in our shoes - and I was wearing sneakers.) So my brother ran to the backyard, turned on the sprinkler system, and we just ran through the water until we were completely drenched. XD

And you know what that means. So - enjoy!

* * *

 _Sprinkler Systems_

Sweat was dripping down her face. Her muscles screamed with fatigue and soreness. Her back was being weighed down by a pack of rocks and other things that only the Force might know. Her legs were trembling; her throat was parched and she was gasping for breath. And in all of her days, Ahsoka Tano never wanted to kill her master more than she wanted to right. At. This. Moment.

"This'll be _fun_ , he said," Ahsoka muttered darkly under her breath, watching her master trudge up the steep hillside in front of her. (That is, if one could call the big, yellow-grassed bump of ground a hillside.) "Don't worry, Snips, this'll be like a walk in the _park_ , he said." She glared at her master, daring him to say something – she knew he heard her words, but he didn't show it.

But Ahsoka wasn't stupid. She knew from the way her master dragged his feet and how his back was slumped and how he seemed to pause every few minutes that Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear, was also regretting his decision in going out on a hike in simmering hot weather. (And then there's also the fact that the man was wearing _dark_ clothes – _honestly, Master,_ Ahsoka had thought incredulously when she saw Anakin this morning, _haven't you_ ever _paid attention to science classes? Or even experimented with how heat is absorbed?_ )

Ahsoka liked to think that she was a calm figure – someone who was resilient and bounced back whatever the Force decided to throw at her. After all, she had been on hundreds – if not thousands – of missions already. (Fine, maybe _thousands_ was an exaggeration, but Ahsoka was _fairly certain_ that she's hit the thousand mark at one point or another.)

Only she and Anakin were on shore leave. Meaning that they were supposed to be taking it easy – not completely slacking off, of course, but taking a break from wartime and catching a few snoozes, actually enjoying life, and et cetera. _Taking it easy_ did _not_ mean waking up at _daybreak_ and loading a big pack of _rocks_ on one's shoulders just to get to the top of a big _hill._

Ahsoka didn't even know _why_ Anakin wanted to climb the darn thing in the first place. It wasn't as though _he_ liked getting up early. She could see why Anakin might be _attracted_ to the idea of climbing up a yellowing slope – after all, there _was_ something adventurous about it – but why _today_ of all places? When the sun was beating down on them the hardest? When they're supposed to be relaxing? This would be relaxing as a _training_ session, not a vacation break.

"We're almost there!" Anakin shouted over his shoulder. "We're pretty close! I can actually see the top!"

"Oh, that's _great!_ " Ahsoka shouted back, her voice dripping with fake enthusiasm. " _Fantastic!_ "

She didn't absorb any shame (unlike her master's stupid dark robes which were probably heating up his stupid self) when Anakin shot her a dirty look shortly after her exclamation.

And perhaps it was that willpower to keep all the shame out that got Ahsoka up to the top of the hillside – or maybe it was the sheer thought about how Ahsoka was going to _scream_ at Anakin once they got up there that got her to clamber up to the top.

It must have been the second reason, because the minute Ahsoka and Anakin were sitting on top of the hillside, the young Togruta girl groaned, " _Worst. Idea. Ever._ " Only Anakin didn't seem to be too bothered by the comment, because through a few pants, he replied, " _Never. Doing. That. Again_."

Ahsoka huffed out another breath and threw the pack of her shoulders, watching it wobble a bit from not having any structure to lean on – and then stand completely still because it was strong on its own. Snorting in annoyance, Ahsoka asked her master, " _Why_ do all of your plans stink? Or involve some back-breaking activity?"

"Hey!" Anakin protested, also shrugging off his pack. "Not _all_ of my plans are like that – remember when we were being chased by droids above Felucia? And we protected those farmers? We came up with a plan back then!" Ahsoka shot her master a glare. " _Yeah_ ," she emphasized, "but that was mostly Master Kenobi and the bounty hunters' plans. You just trained the farmers. _Oh_ , _and_ we got into that mess because you _crashed the ship_. You didn't have a backup plan for what we'd do if there _wasn't_ a medical station above Felucia, either, which, _again_ , I might add, Master, is what got us to crash."

"Kriff, Snips, did you really analyze all of that? You need a new hobby," Anakin said with only a halfhearted laugh. Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "I'd only be able to pick up a new hobby once someone stops crashing and burning them," she retorted. Anakin held up a finger. "Okay, that _one baking incident_ was _not_ my fault. R2 wanted to show me something and he was getting _really_ excited and then we got into that mess only _because_ we thought something was burning."

"And then it _actually_ burned because you wanted to – and I _quote_ , 'fix it'," Ahsoka said flatly.

Anakin grunted as he lifted his pack and threw it down the hillside. He and Ahsoka watched it roll down, down, down…and then burst open to reveal a bunch of bricks. _Not rocks,_ Ahsoka thought. She almost found that funny, only it wasn't. Somewhat encouraged by Anakin's actions, Ahsoka grabbed her own pack and chucked it down the hillside. The second it made impact with the ground, the pack ripped open and out clunked a bunch of machine parts.

 _Okay, now_ that's _just unfair_ , Ahsoka thought, and turned to glare at Anakin. He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I didn't choose what goes into the packs – the people there pick up random packs and hand them to you. They're supposed to weigh about the same."

"There are a lot of differences in the word _about_ , Skyguy," Ahsoka muttered, giving the older man a punch. Anakin held up his hands in defense. "I agreed that was a bad idea, didn't I? That I wouldn't ever let ourselves take another stupid hike like this?" he asked with a sheepish grin. Ahsoka dropped her fist and crossed her arms. "The second we get back, I'm gonna take a shower," she only said decidedly. "I'm going to take a shower and then sleep, because you woke me up at _dawn_. _You_."

"Yeah, I didn't really like that part too much, either," Anakin murmured, though it was more to himself than to Ahsoka. The girl threw up her hands in exasperation and looked down the hillside. "Well," she muttered, "at least it'll be easier to go down this thing than up."

Anakin looked down. Then looked back up at the sky. Then looked back down.

"Um…Snips?" he asked in an odd voice.

"What _now_?"

Anakin gestured at another hillside behind them. "The building is on the other side of a few more hills," he said guiltily.

Ahsoka didn't talk to her master for the entire trip back.

xXx

"Ahsoka, you said you were going to shower, right?"

"…"

"Okay, I know you're ignoring me because you're angry that I didn't listen to you – no need to try to punch me! – but hear me out!"

"…"

"I know that look. You're wondering, _why should I trust you?_ "

Ahsoka gave her master a violent nod, hoping that he would get the message. Still, to her great indignance, Anakin remained to talk. "Well," he said, drawing out the word so that Ahsoka could really hear the _l_ s, "I've got a better idea when thinking about showers." Ahsoka took her room key and examined it in the light for no other reason except to make a point that she wasn't going to give in so easily to her master. "If _better idea_ involves me falling into a pool full of sharks, I'd rather not," she griped.

Anakin gawked at Ahsoka.

"What?" she asked at last.

"A pool of sharks – do you really think I'm _that_ – okay, never mind. That's beside the point," Anakin sighed, shaking his head. "I just think…well…I'll just show you."

And so, awkwardly stuffing their key cards into their bags and walking out of the motel, Ahsoka watched as Anakin dove into the sprinkler system. Ahsoka stared for a few moments, watching as the man stood directly in the middle of the giant water system – there were some other people already jumping in between the water sprays, all laughing or shrieking or dancing to some upbeat song that someone had pumped through the public speakers.

"Come on!" Anakin said, gesturing. "It's a good way to cool off!"

At first, Ahsoka wanted to stay at the front of the motel just to show that she was still annoyed by her master. But then the song went faster, and then Ahsoka felt more sweat drip down the sides of her face and more children seemed to jump into the sprinkling system, making it more tempting than ever.

"Oh, whatever," she sighed, and jumped towards her master.

Instantly, she was sprayed in the face by deliciously cold water – Ahsoka shivered at first – but then, when realizing that the bothersome heat was fading, a smile broke out on her face. She laughed as Anakin tried to do a flip over one of the bigger sprinklers – only to completely fail because of a surprise water attack to the nose. Sputtering, the man landed on the grass and looked up at Ahsoka. The girl snorted and did her own flip over the water, landing with perfect ease on the wet grass.

Anakin hopped up to his feet and letting a hand dip into the water, he said, "See? Isn't this kinda fun?"

Ahsoka, too, let her fingers slip into the perfectly cool water. She smiled again. "It's not the worst idea you've had today, Skyguy," she replied lightly.

"Glad to hear it, Snips," Anakin said cheerfully. He withdrew his hand and taking a couple of steps back, said, "Now – watch the master!" He heaved in a deep breath and cracking his knuckles, shouted, "Cowabunga!" before running straight into the next wave of sprinkler-water. Laughing, Ahsoka followed.

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 **A/N** – Yes, I'm aware of Anakin's prosthetic-arm and that it would technically go all crazy when in impact with water – but just imagine that he had the foresight to put something over it or something, like what he did in the underwater world arc in the beginning of season four.

**And Cowabunga is a term that you scream in satisfaction – or you scream it right before doing something insane. Like surfing a big wave!

Oh! And if you hadn't heard yet, I'm doing my very first fanfic giveaway for celebrating over 300 follows/favorites on my user. (*screams forever* AAAH HOW AND WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!) Basically, five people will be selected out of a random generator and those five people can request any fanfic from me, as long as they follow the guidelines found on my profile page. To enter, shoot me a PM! :)

Reviews are always fantastic - constructive criticism is okay, but flames are not!


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